368 of 438 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not in Any Way Whatsoever, November 28, 2009
This review is from: Hush, Hush (Hardcover)
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If I hadn't received this via Amazon Vine, and therefore obligated in return to review it (as opposed to purchasing), I probably would let it pass into my reading life's obscurity. We all know the basics of the book by now: hot, yet jerky mysterious guy meets lovely, yet clueless girl who must be with jerky guy and solve the Mystery of Him.
Hush, Hush left me with a rather annoying cross between disbelief, disgust and at times pure apathy. One thing in the book's favor: despite a completely unbelievable romance and sequence of events to reach said romance, it is an utterly readable book. Very easy to slip into and get lost in. I admit the only reason I kept going was in vain hope it would all pan out into something good through a cool plot twist or stellar character growth.
The romance, this is where my sense of disbelief and disgust comes in, and being that the blurb bills this immediately as a romance, I'm also bewildered. Patch is the typical "twilight era" young adult hero, or so it seems. He's smart-mouthed, mysterious, and dangerous, and despite his rather blatantly lacking qualities, he attracts the heroine like a bear to stinking trash. Yep, Nora just has to wade through all his crap, because something is telling her that beneath all of Patch's jerk wad facade, there's a heart of romantic gold. How else to explain why she pursues him?
Patch is one of those types that immediately rubs the heroine - and this reader - raw. He's constantly insulting Nora, and uncooperative in their typical science lab partnership. He leads her on the craziest dance I've ever seen, meanwhile Nora following behind, picking up his crumb trail of crazy as if it was honey. I say honey because even though she is highly suspicious of him, as well as wary and guarded against him, she does eventually go on to love him. How? WHY? Never once do these two have a scene worthy of igniting a romance. They only trade insults, argue and mistrust and frankly, Patch is one creepy mofo.
And with good reason. His motives are not in any way pure, not even romantically. His actions are confusing, highly suspect and then at times downright see-through. Nora fears he means to do her harm, and despite this being about the only smart thing to come out of all her musings on him, she still goes on to put herself in one dangerous scenario after another.
Nora has this best friend...the kind of friend that makes backstabbing enemies look inviting (because, you know, the enemy would be much more straight-forward). Vee was the kind of friend who is with you because she wants to catch as much of her cooler, prettier and all-around "better" friend's glow. On the surface, the friendship appears solid and born of years of fast and true experiences that make their relationship stronger. Beneath this, though, I got a sense of jealousy from Vee, who is the "curvier" one we all know to be the slightly less perfect one who worries too much about her weight and other similar insecurity issues. Vee didn't come off as a true friend to Nora to me. She constantly says things that are embarrassing to Nora not to mention she does things that get Nora in trouble. Vee engages in several actions that make no sense. If this book in any way made sense, Vee would have hit the best friend door, gone.
There are also two boys of the same age as the rest of our main troupe of characters, Jules and Elliot, who go to a private school several miles away. One never says a word hardly - Jules - and goes about the book almost entirely till the end seeming as bored as I was getting with the whole affair. Elliot seems to have a strong romantic interest in Nora, but changes tune drastically and suddenly at one point, revealing his intentions in an entirely different light. I think these two characters were meant to me more subtle, but due to a prologue that takes place in Loire Valley, France, 1565, it doesn't take rocket science to figure out who and what all these people are and what in the heck is going on.
The bottom line is, Hush, Hush exemplifies yet another young adult romance with no romance in sight. I cannot give on this one: if the heroine is afraid of the hero for most of the book, and the hero even WANTS to hurt the heroine for most of said book, romance isn't the word that comes to mind. Psycho works better.
While I felt the writing itself was competent, too many things jump the gun or feel clumsily written in. The clues are blatantly tossed out, from the cover for one thing (yes, it's beautiful, but it pretty much gives it all away), to a carnival ride that Nora almost dies on called the Archangel. **SPOILER ALERT** Yes, Patch almost kills her on it. **END SPOILER** She knows this, is confused by it, but she continually ignores her instincts, choosing instead to "investigate" Patch. To instead fall in love despite him never giving one un-creepy vibe or romantic gesture.
How is someone that WANTS to harm the heroine time and again a hero? How is one that stalks her, threatens her, is downright nasty to her...a hero? Why is this billed as a romance for young adults, or young girls, I should say. It takes the theme of forbidden romance a step too far, twisting the idea that true and exciting love must be dangerous and also demeaning to the heroine.
I'm all for the air of forbidden desire and the excitement it can bring to a growing romantic relationship, but this wasn't romance. A hero does not prey on the heroine's fears, enjoying it all the while and then suddenly the two are "in love". Sometimes the ends justify the means in these kinds of situations, but after all of this book's particular means, I do not feel anything was justified. Had Patch stopped being such a jerk, and Nora such an addlepated twit, perhaps a more believable romance could've risen from the ashes.
This is the kind of book that beats home such a wrong air the entire way through that by the end I am rather apathetic towards it all. Numb to the idea that Nora and Patch could have any kind of romance, even a future in which to continue fostering a romance. The horse was beaten to the point that who really gives a crap if these two love one another or not. It's not a healthy love and it is disturbing to say the least.
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43 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So glad I overlooked the bad reviews on here that plagued the first few pages, November 23, 2010
I ordered this book after hearing a fellow book club member raving about it, but I have to admit I was hesitant at first because of the reviews here on Amazon. The first few pages of reviews here made the book sound horribly mundane. I am sooo glad that I decided to by pass the criticism and give it a try.
I'm a 28 year old, who was just so entirely wrapped up in this fictional realm that I couldn't put it down and half way through the book I already had Crescendo, the sequel, being shipped to my house. I simply couldn't get enough of Patch, Nora and Vee. I have read and adored the Twilight series as well, but saw no resemblances between the two series and frankly am tired of those who constantly think Twilight is being ripped off by other authors (Twilight, although loved by many, including myself, is a HUGE rip off of many many authors). It's the business of literature. Besides... Patch is much much more sexier than ECullen.. by far!!
So pick the book up, I'm sure you won't be disappointed, and the second book is even better...!! I already have em both completed and am soo sad I'll be waiting months to read the 3rd and 4th book of the series, but I know Becca will deliver another fantastic sequel. Happy reading :)
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54 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Roller Coaster Ride..., October 26, 2009
This review is from: Hush, Hush (Hardcover)
Hush Hush sweetheart...I found this novel in the Barnes and Noble and picked it up because of the hypnotic cover and my love of fallen angel stories. I sat at the small, round tables donning the Starbucks and began devouring the book right away. An hour and eighty pages later, I knew Becca Fitzpatrick's introduction to the unexplored territory of fallen angels hit the mark in my hook factor.
But, Hush Hush left me with a sensation similar to riding a new, well advertised roller coaster. I just wasn't sure how I felt after plowing through Nora and Patch's story in one sitting. The story follows the somewhat unbearably gullible Nora, her best, at times annoying friend, Vee, the object of infatuation, Patch, and two new kids on the block, Elliot and Jules, through an introductory style plot where the setup rings of a sequel. The chemistry between the main characters, Patch and Nora, was fair because he kept putting her down in every imaginable bad boy manner. By the end of the novel, I felt as if Nora deserved better and didn't care very much for Patch at all. The novel's slippery execution through Acts I and II are vindicated at the end if you stick with it.
-Spoiler alert-
In my opinion, some portions of Hush Hush felt formulaic. Much of the love triangle rivalry reminded me of the ending scene of Evermore. As other readers pointed out, there were many phrases Patch used with Nora that gave me the feel of Twilight déjà vu. By the time I got to where the intruder broke into Nora's house, I'd begun to feel the weariness associated with too much mystery and not enough revelations, literally.
Overall, I did enjoy Hush Hush's coverage of my favorite subjects. For me, this is where the ambivalence factor comes to play. Though the characters seemed somewhat detached, the plot line has great potential. Maybe Patch will redeem his over the top, bad boy ways in the sequel. Nora just might pop him one next time he humiliates her in class. As previous reviews have indicated, the reader will either love or hate this novel. Pick it up and see for yourself.
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